A RELAXING, family-friendly tea and coffee lounge has recently opened in Southsea after a two-month refurbishment.

The T & Thistle cafe in Highland Road opened in February and has already become popular with locals.

The new cafe offers a range of Scottish teas and the coffee is hand roasted in Winchester by award-winning Moonroast, which owner Jennifer Wilkie says has already received many compliments.

The cafe also sells a wide selection of cakes, light snacks and more recently introduced platters and some breakfast additions including eggs Benedict.

Jennifer said: ‘We thought it was a really interesting, quirky little place that we could make our own and put our stamp on and build a bit of a future for our children.

‘It’s a nice surrounding for a bit of indulgence and a nice bit of home baking with fresh coffees and loose leaf teas.’

The cafe is dog-friendly and offers free wi-fi.

Dan Prendergast, co-owner, said: ‘When opening a new business it can be hard to take on any criticism when you’ve worked so hard on something, but so far it’s all been positive and we’ve had great support from the community, everyone has been so friendly and supportive.’

Eleanor Bradbury, 21, a waitress at the cafe, said: ‘Everyone enjoys working here, we try our best to keep it at a high quality. It’s all very positive and the owners are really lovely.

‘One of the owners is from Scotland and so we produce a lot of Scottish coffees and teas which have actually won awards.

‘The cafe is always lively and busy, especially weekends, we also have quite a few locals who come in regularly.’

The T & Thistle is open Monday to Sunday from 9am until 5pm with plans to extend the evening and morning opening hours in the next couple of weeks.

We very much appreciate your feedback, whether it is positive or whether it is areas you feel we can improve upon. Feel free to chat to us in person, but if you can't make it in please do email us or contact us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitteror Trip Advisor.